Abortion is not

Currently, about a third of all Michigan counties provide their family planning services through Planned Parenthood, America's No. 1 abortion provider.

Some beneficial services are provided by Planned Parenthood, however according to Planned Parenthood's own annual reports -182,854 abortions were performed by Planned Parenthood in 1999 alone.

The fact is that this is an 8.8 percent increase from the number of abortions Planned Parenthood performed in 1998.

Taxpayers are being forced to subsidize the nation's No. 1 abortion provider. Although the funds are officially earmarked as family planning funds, when government dollars pay the rent for the buildings where abortions are performed and the salaries of the staff that run them, tax dollars are essentially being used to support abortion.

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For the fiscal year 1999-2000, Planned Parenthood affiliates received nearly $2.8 million directly from the state of Michigan to run family planning programs. This does not include many other government contracts or revenues. For example, Kent County subcontracts its family planning to Planned Parenthood in the amount of $929,517.

Planned Parenthood operates as a "nonprofit" organization, but consistently takes in more revenues than it spends. Nationally, Planned Parenthood Federation of America's (PPFA) 1998-99 Annual Report showed a profit (income in excess of expenditures) at $125.8 million. The same report indicated that net assets for PPFA grew by $131.3 million in one year.

Legislation pending in Lansing would give family planning agencies that do not promote or perform abortions a priority in receiving government family planning funds. This bill would not cut a single dollar of family planning funds, but would enable Michigan to provide family planning services without subsidizing abortion. Urge your legislators to support H.B. 4655.